Easy hiking trails

The destination for today is Pic de Madamete. The start of the walk is not far from Luz – near Gaubie bridge 5km behind Bareges village. We have been here a number of times before as hikes to Horquete d’Aubert, Pic de Heche Castet and to the Pic de Madamete itself started here.

It rains a bit while we are driving then the sky clears up and the sun rules. We take a moderately steep path through pastures (the herd of whitish cows and sheep with black and white legs there). We pass a number of smaller and larger lakes while ascending to Bareges pass (Col de Bareges – 2469m), then descend some 300m then up again to Col de Madamete and 2657 high Pic de Madamete.

One can see a number of lakes both our side and the other side (Park Neouvielle) from the summit. The Neouvielle summit is screened by the cloud unfortunately. Gradually the mist comes up from the valleys. Still it is warm and sunny here on the summit.

The track we take to descend has a number of beautiful lakes to view. Along one of them (Lac Blanc) our path goes by the top of the huge dam.

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We have walked 19km today, height difference 1400m.

For the diner we have goulash soup prepared by Benita in two large pots. We pour it into plates by metal cup (there is no spoon available in our apartment). We did not manage to save something for the next day 😉

Download file: gmt-12-pic-de-madamete.gpx

The weather is cloudy in the morning therefore we decide to go to Spain again. As usual the weather is beautiful at the another end of the tunnel. We drive to Escalon, then turn westwards and drive to  Anisclo canyon. There is 10km of very narrow road that runs the canyon and takes us to the parking place. Cliffs on the left, stream (Rio Bellos – the beautiful river) down in the gorge on the right.

The gorge continues behind the parking place – we take a path that mainly goes through dense wood. That is good because the weather is hot and the trees protect us from the hot sun. The stream is full of shoots and waterfalls. All the time we walk by the steep cliffs. After four hours of walk we are at the end of the gorge and at the base of the picturesque mountain circus. It might be possible to get there in a couple of hours. Bet we have no time because we have the way back. After a short reflection on this we decide to return to the car. We are there about 7pm after 8 hours walk.

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We drive back another way. This goes up the hill and uncovers a great view to the mountains around. We stop a couple of times and Ilze takes shots. Then we drive back to France. After the Bielsa we are back – to the France and to the fog.

We drive to Spain – to Bielsa, then turn to nord-west and up by road in Pinetta valley – about 14km to Paradora parking place. The weather is sunny and hot. We select a track to balcony of Pineta (apparently the name of the mountain). We walk the road then branch to the mountain path. A number of waterfalls around. The streams struggle through the snow heaps and melt them from below. The streams are full of water – we have give up the plan to reach the Pineta balcony because the path ends in front of a fast and deep stream. It does not look a good idea to slip on ones back down the riverbed.

We still make another effort to get to the balcony – we find another path and follow it through the pine wood. We get to the nice sandstone cliffs. Behind it there is a gorge full of snow with the stream below. We do not take a risk to use a snow as a bridge and turn backwards.

When down to the road we turn away from the parking place and walk till the charming bridge that stands almost below the waterfall. The bridge is constantly below sort of the shower. For a hot weather as today it is  pleasure. We proceed further to the base of the beautiful mountain circus and enjoy the mountain landscape.

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On a way back we make a stop in Bielsa and have a short look around. The houses are mainly freshly built but the town has a sort of ancient look – narrow streets, stone walls etc. To attract tourists. We take a look inside the church of Bielsa – it is large enough for the tiny village like Bielsa.

When back in France we stuck in the middle of goat herd that has decided to cross the road. We get trough with great care and attention.

We drive over pass of Peyresade again. This time we do not branch to lake Oõ but drive further by Bagneres de Luchon to Valee du Lis. We drive till the end of the road and leave the car there in large parking place. It’s fog most of the time we drive.  It’s foggy and damp when we start to walk as well. We ascend by the path that goes through wood. Gradually the weather clears up and get’s hotter. We enjoy the couple of beautiful waterfalls – Cascade d’Enfer (hell’s waterfall), Goufre d’Enfer (hell’s groove). Ilze takes a shots of a pretty salamander. Our trip ends where rue d’Enfer (the hells stream) runs through a very narrow gorge. No way to get further – the stream fills all the gorge from one side to other. I take a bath in the stream – the water is cold, this do refreshes.

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On a way back we stop in the center of Bagneres de Luchon. One of the sales-women asks were we are from. When we mention Latvia she knowingly nods and tells us that somebody from Latvia works nearby. This makes feel a bit home 🙂

When back in St. Lary Soulan we take a walk to the nearby village with a beautiful name – Vielle Aure.

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Today we plan to visit a lake with interesting name Oõ. To get there one have to drive over the pass Col de Peyresurde to Valee de Astau. We drive through village of Oõ (the road sign looks funny indeed) and by the freshly paved road proceed to the parking place of the lake Oõ. The place looks just as one may expect it for the tourist favored spot.

We ascend from the parking place to the lake. Just as we are  by the lake we see on the opposite side a waterfall. Further we walk the comfortable path by the left side of Oõ to the next lakes – Lac Espingo, Lac Saussat and Lac Portillon (the latter being the destination or today’s trip). The snow gets deeper and deeper as we get higher on the track. A couple walking ahead of us uses crampons. We use our hiking boots just pushing them harder in the snow. By the Lac Portillon the weather changes. The clouds and drizzle. On a way home behind the Col de Peyresurde we have a fog as well.

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There is a St. Johns feast tonight in St. Lary Soulan. The feast takes place in the parking place in the town center. There is a stage built at the one end of the parking place for this occasion. At the center of the parking place there is a layer of sand with a giant fireplace on top. The fireplace is safely barred from the attendants of the feast. The audience (mainly the people at senior age) stands by or sits on the stone parapet that splits the parking place and the river that flows by. Everybody seems to feel perfect. Then the band on the stage (accordion, trumpet, guitar, keys and drums) starts to play. They sing French and Spanish. The parking rapidly gets full with dancers. We join them for a couple of waltzes and polkas

After 10pm the fireplace gets in the center of attention. A couple of importantly looking men walk to the fireplace and flash it over with some gas-mixture. Then they set on fire. The fireplace burns splashing the light high to the sky. A half an hour or so the fireplace draws everybody’s attention. Then the band proceeds with the music and the public returns to dance.